January 28, 2013

What are some inexpensive Valentine gift ideas for her, for him, and for kids?

Have you ever been one of those girls that said you didn’t want a Valentine’s Day gift and your significant other actually listened to you!?! I never have because the simple fact is, I like gifts and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. Gifts are a really great way to express love and that is what Valentine’s Day is all about, right? I do like giving and receiving gifts, but I also don’t like feeling pressured to spend a fortune. Just because I want a gift on Valentine’s doesn’t mean I expect an expensive diamond necklace. In fact, one of my favorite Valentine’s Day gifts was the Disney movie, The Incredibles. My husband knew I really wanted that movie for our family so he took the opportunity of Valentine’s day to give it to me, and it was awesome!

So, how do you have an awesome gift-filled Valentine’s Day without spending a fortune? First, set a budget. I know that seems so un-romantic to give a cheap Valentine gift or to set a limit and I’m sure lots of people will disagree with it, but that is what my husband and I do every year. We are each allowed the same amount of money to spend on each other. I’m pretty sure we were only allowed $5 each for our first Valentine’s Day. We have increased that amount as we make more money, but we never set a budget that is more than we can afford. Even if you don’t have money to spend on Valentine’s Day you can always do a homemade gift which can often be much more memorable anyway.

The next best way to have a gift-filled V-day without breaking the bank is to have a long list of inexpensive Valentine’s gift ideas. Luckily for you, I have supplied just such a list below. The list has Valentine’s Day gifts for kids, handmade gift ideas, gifts for her, gifts for him, and even Valentine’s Day gifts for elementary school classes or just for your kids.

Valentine’s Gifts For Her:

• Felt Lip Balm Holder
• Lacy Votive Holder (homemade)
• Make homemade heart soap using this bathtub crayon recipe, a heart mold pan to pour the soap into, and some essential oil to make the soap scented.
• Buy rose petal soap in a heart shaped box
• Arrange rose petals in a heart shape on a table or bed
• Heart shaped bookmark
• Fancy gift bags filled with candy or other gifts
• Wooden roses
• “Remember I Love You” gift
• Nail Polish
• Nail art kit
• Bubble bath
• Necklace
• Bracelet
• Earrings
• Ring
• Canvas bag decorated with paint or sharpies
• Heart measuring cups or spoons
• Glass nail file
• Candle
• Lotion
• Perfume samples
• Scarf
• Heart keychain

Valentine’s Gifts For Him:

• Felt Tissue Pouch (homemade)
• Candy bouquet
• “We love you to pieces” handmade Valentine’s gift
• Buy a candy bar pizza or just make a homemade one using mini candy bars
• “Hooked on You” gift
• Small photo album filled with pictures of the two of you
• Personalized photo mug
• Cufflinks
• Cell phone charger for car
• Coasters that match his hobby or interests
• Pocket Squares
• Paperweight
• Game for his cell phone or another kind of app he might like
• Universal remote
• Bathrobe
• Pocket Knife
• Stud finder or other Measurement tool
• “52 Reasons I Love You”

Valentine’s Day Gifts For Kids and Elementary School Classes:

• “Love Bug” Valentine
• Crayon Heart paper (write a Valentine message with a sharpie on the top)
• “Burst my Bubble” Valentine
• Valentine Rolo Pencils
• Printable butterfly Valentine’s and a few other printable Valentine’s
• Sticky Note Clipboards, write “Valentine, I’m “stuck” on you!” on the top
• Valentine Treat Pockets
• “Pop Quiz” printable Valentine
• Secret Valentine messages
• Handmade Calla Lily Bouquet
• “Thanks for sticking by my side” printable Valentine

Valentine’s Day Gifts for Anyone:

• Altoids or some other type of mint
• A bar of Toblerone or another gourmet chocolate
• An extra special homemade dinner
• Movie tickets
• DVD, here’s a great selection of DVDs that are $5 or less
• iTunes gift card
• Cute mugs and hot chocolate

If you still haven’t found just the right thing you can take a look at the list we made for Christmas with gift ideas under $30. We would love to hear your ideas and add to the list! Feel free to leave comments and link to any ideas you have! Have a Happy Valentine’s Day!

We've found some fun people with great linky parties. You might just see this post linked up on one of these amazing sites! Link and Learn from No Time for Flashcards Sunday Showcase from Train Up a Child Share it Saturday from Teach Beside Me Tot School Gathering Place from 1+1+1=1 Montessori Monday from Living Montessori Now Tuesday Tots from In Lieu of Preschool Show and Tell from ABC & 123 For the Kids Fridays from Sun Scholars Finished Friday from All Our Days Weekly Kids Co-op from Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails Preschool & Kindergarten Corner from Homeschool Creations TGIF Linky Party from 123 Homeschool 4 Me

December 21, 2012

What is a preschool Christmas activity that teaches one to one correspondence and that uses Christmas M&Ms?

I made this cute M&M Christmas pictures activity for Little Bear because he really loves do-a-dot pages, but I wanted to do something extra special for Christmas. Instead of dot markers, these Christmas pictures use red and green M&Ms to fill the circles.

I printed the M&M Christmas pictures off in color and laminated them. You can print them in black and white, too, but the circles will not look like different colors.

I hardly ever include candy in our preschool activities, but I figured it would be okay just this once. :) Little Bear was ecstatic when he saw the red and green M&Ms. He was happy to fill in the spaces of all the Christmas pictures. I was impressed with the care that he took to make sure the M&Ms were completely covering each blank circle.

After he finished covering the circles in each Christmas picture, he took off the M&Ms and we sorted them into piles of red and green. Next, we counted how many of each color had been used for that picture.

On the back of the picture, Little Bear wrote how many of each color M&Ms there were in the corresponding color of crayon.

We did this same thing with each Christmas picture, but we only did four of the pictures today. After all four of the pictures were covered, the M&Ms counted and recorded, I finally told Little Bear he could eat the M&Ms. He happily obliged.

This was such a fun activity and I plan on doing it again with the rest of the pictures on Christmas Eve or even on Christmas day. Hey, there’s nothing wrong with sneaking in a little learning on Christmas, right? ;)

We've found some fun people with great linky parties. You might just see this post linked up on one of these amazing sites! Link and Learn from No Time for Flashcards Sunday Showcase from Train Up a Child Share it Saturday from Teach Beside Me Tot School Gathering Place from 1+1+1=1 Montessori Monday from Living Montessori Now Tuesday Tots from In Lieu of Preschool Show and Tell from ABC & 123 For the Kids Fridays from Sun Scholars Finished Friday from All Our Days Weekly Kids Co-op from Frogs and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails Preschool & Kindergarten Corner from Homeschool Creations TGIF Linky Party from 123 Homeschool 4 Me